The Great Dirt Hole of '24

 Last night while I was at crochet group at the Catasauqua Public Library, my friend, Judy asked what Parke thought about all the trucks going by.  I wasn't sure what she meant until this morning.  

As I did the morning struggle to get in the car while parked

on Howertown Road during school traffic, I was memorized by the fact there were 2 giant dump trucks in front of me, crossing paths.  When I looked down, I saw that dirt covered parts of the street; and then it dawned on me, these were the trucks Judy was talking about.

The trucks that were putting the end to an era.  The trucks that were filling the Catty pool with dirt.  

Yesterday after work I was making a run to Hartzell's to pick up a prescription.  I had seen pictures of the pool being filled with dirt on Facebook, but when I saw it in person my heart dropped.  

The pool which opened in 1935, Grand opening July 11, 1936, which measured 60 feet by 220 feet.  The pool which became my home away from home in the summer months.  The pool where I learned to swim and where I tried to learn to dive but couldn't.  The pool where I hoped to be one of those ladies that sat under the tree (best spot on the grass) someday, watching my children play and swim.  But it never happened, we sat along the fence.  Three generations of my family swam there, my mom, me and my son.  The pool was now a giant dirt spot.  

I am not going to get into the politics or price that led to this.  My point is I am sad to see it go. It is an end to something that lasted 89 years.  

It was where I got snow cones and pretzel rods as a kid. It was where I met friends, and even fell in love once.  It was the pool. 

Yes, the Catasauqua Swimming pool has bit the dust, literally, and that's another day in Catasauqua.

 

Happy Father's Day

For many, many years I did not celebrate this day.  Yes, I did with my ex-husband and son.  Plus today I called my son to wish him Happy Father's Day, a special one with a baby on the way.  I had a grandfather I celebrated and Pop-pop my Step-Father but never a Father.  

You see, my mom and dad were divorced when I was 4 months old.  My grandmother thought it best that I had no contact with him.  Let me tell you, she was so wrong.  I met my paternal grandparents once, they came to my grandmother's house, they seemed so nice and brought me a giant stuffed rabbit, but I remember hearing her tell them to never come again.  And they didn't.  

When I around 17ish my Aunt Anne, my Father's step sister mentioned where my dad was living. I thought here it is, the opportunity to contact my father.  Visions of uniting were in my dreams.  The man would take me in his arms and call me daughter.  I wrote a letter, in it I gave him options.  One my phone number to call me. Two, write me back. OR three, if he did not want further contact from me, just put the letter in the self addressed stamped envelope and mail it back to me, at least I would know he got it.  I would respect his wishes and never contact him again.

Well, I am guessing you know what happened.  The letter came back in my self-addressed stamped envelope.  No comments, no hello daughter.  No, I love you.  

But I still love the man who donated his sperm even though I will never know what he thought about me.  He passed away December 5, 2022.  I didn't know until a few months ago when I googled him.  I did this periodically.  I was sad that no one let me know, but then who would.  Does anyone in his family even know I exist.

All I know about him is what I read in the obituary:

Luther was an amazing husband, father, and grandfather. As a long-time member of the Paradise Hunting and Fishing Club in Weatherly, Luther was known for his love of hunting and fishing. He enjoyed the opportunities to pass he love for the outdoors onto his children and grandchildren.

An amazing father.  

It looks like I have half-siblings, but I guess I will never meet them.  I wasn't even mention in the obit, although my twin brothers, who died, were.  

I don't write this blog out of hate, I write it out of love.  Love for the father I never knew, but also as a message to those fathers out there.  The ones that leave and never ever have contact with there children again.  You leave a hole.  You leave a hole so deep in a child that you could not  possibly understand.

I would have been happy with a birthday card or a phone call.  One I love you in the last 64 years would of sufficed.  

As usual I don't really celebrate this day: but let me say this -to my dad in heaven, happy father's day.

And to my heavenly Father, thank you for always be there.

and that's another day in Catasauqua

Getting Back to Normal

 Ever day is a new day and with each new day comes a little more normalcy in our lives.  Today was the First Day of Sunday School again.  Of all the things that I missed the most during Covid was my Church family, especially the children.  

Tammy, bff and co-teacher and I are blessed with a great group of children.  They are smart, even when I think they aren't paying attention, they are.  They are funny, they do and say the funniest things, I am always laughing with the.  They are our future leaders and I don't mind leaving the world to them.

The most popular spot in our room is the hot chocolate corner and of course, the marshmallows.  We had all kinds of marshmallows.  Big ones, small ones, flavored ones and the kind that are in marshmallow cereals.  I seen them wear marshmallows on their head, spear them with coffee stirrers and finally put them in their hot chocolate.  

I learn, as I teach them and I have been learning for over 30 years.  All the children that have come through have blessed me in some way.  When I see some of the ones that I had years ago now married with children I realize how old I am.  But you know what, the new ones keep me young.  They give me energy that I usually don't have and let me tell you, covid  had sucked a lot of my energy away.  Even though I worked every day, nighttime was mundane.  Come home, eat and sleep - repeat.  

When I cleaned the room last week I found a lot of spider webs, one daddy longlegger, which Linus tells me is the most poisonous spider but is unable to bite humans with its fangs, and the world's most hardest  marshmallows that ever existed.  Along with out dated snacks, candy that was 2 years old and some other outdated items.  

Today is was only Linus and I.  We did the lesson about Deborah and Barak, talked about what we can do for others in the church.  Talked about the food bank, the church carillons and daddy longleggers.  Being it was only the two of us, we were done early so we threw yarn balls around and then did some origami, unsuccessfully.   But I was never happier.  

Yes, maybe we are taking baby steps to becoming normal and some things may be never normal again, but for today is was at Salem UCC Sunday School, and that's another day in Catasauqua.

Let's have some Cheese with you Wine, oh wait that gets delivered on a Tractor Trailer

 It's a rainy day, a soggy Memorial Day weekend.  I can't help but read Facebook and one of the Catty pages is really getting bogged down with whining about noise and tractor trailers.   Especially Fed Ex tractor trailers.  But we need to face one big fact - none of use could live without tractor trailers, they bring us our food, our clothes, our medicine and basically everything.  Unless you live your life on a farm, raise animals, butcher them, and grow all your food you rely on tractors trailers.

• Of the 1.9 million semi-trucks that operate in the U.S., one-third of them are registered in California, Florida and Texas.
• In 2015, commercial trucks traveled an estimated 279.8 billion miles collectively.
• A typical semi-truck diesel engine weighs 3,000 pounds.
• 70 percent of American goods are transported via semi-trucks

During Covid we even relied more on Fed Ex  and Amazon.  Let's face - some of us didn't go out to shop and we had everything delivered. 

I worked for Fed Ex (for a whole week) and do you know what that truck was full of - everything.  Chewy.com; medical supplies, rugs, furniture, box after box after box going somewhere around the United States.  It gets from place to place by tractor trailer.  

Yes I know that the tractors trailers are big and our streets are small - I live on Howertown Road, I hear it all, trucks being the quietest.  Motorcycles and loud cars don't bother me like they bother my mom, who has to say OY every time they go by.  

I lived at 2nd and Mulberry Streets growing up and I am old enough to remember the noise from the Brewery.  And lets talk about the airport, I could hear planes start up and roar overhead.   They are much quieter now.  Oh, and what older Catasauquan cannot remember the banging from the Phoenix Forge.

Oh our poor ancestors.  Historically, manufacturing was Catasauqua's principal industry, and, in 1839, it was the location of the first manufactured anthracite iron in the nation..  Betcha that was a nuisance at the time.    

Let's face it, there always something to gripe about, but I love Catasauqua, the small town charm, it might not be the best place to live but it surely is not the worse.  I love the trees, the parks, and yes I to will miss the pool this year but it is what it is.   We have Skelly on Race Street that makes me smile and we have a lot going for us and that's what we should be happy about. 

You can complain if you wish, but the next time you have get a box from Amazon, or Zulily or anything for that matter, remember it probably was on a tractor trailer at sometime.  and that's another day in Catasauqua

The New Normal

 Let me just state that I don't like the new normal.  The normal means for me working 24/7 - and I don't like it.  When I was a little girl and I played "secretary" I sat behind my desk and my toy typewrite and pretended to work.  And I pretended to work 9 to 5 with a lunch hour and breaks.  Boy, was I a dreamer.  

I have a different title now and I am not sure the term secretary in used anymore, you more of a personal assistant or administrative assistant.  Although we do have the Secretary of State, etc., which mean something different.  

When Covid hit - working from home became the new normal for a lot of people.  I hate working from home.  I hear the tv, the dog wants to sit on my lap and everyone talks to me.  While at work I hear music, the dog is at home and everyone still talks to me;  but usually about work.  The fact is almost everyone I deal with is working from home which means everyone now has a different timetable they are working.  We have the early birds, the after lunch bunch, they hey I just start  moving at 3 and the night owls.  I just want to work 8:30 am to 5 pm with some sort of break at lunch, but that just doesn't happen anymore.  Because they work, they think I work;  and when someone decides they have a question on a Sunday afternoon they call.  

Guess what people, I food shop, go to the drug store, take a nap and cook.  I clean my house, go to church and see my family.  I do laundry, I like to read (although it has been forever) and crochet (same for crochet) and in the summer -- garden (which went to hell this summer).  

Maybe I am just to old for this, I come from a whole different generation than everyone else I work with.  I still can remember when I rested on a Sunday.  

Speaking of rest, I need a nap. I will say this, my Company is very good to me.  Although I think they sometimes live in that perfect world I dream about when they say enjoy your time off.  There is not a time I am truly off - I would have to go completely off the grid with no computer and phone.   I need to learn to camp or something.  To completely unplug, how nice that would be for just even a day.

Well, I am done whining for now.  Occasionally it happens, LOL, but that's Another day in Catasauqua.

Christmas Spirit 2020

 I don't get much time anymore to write this blog, but I felt the need to write about Christmas Spirit, or the acute lack thereof, this year.  It is peculiar times; Covid has cause isolation even in a crowd.  Our masks cover not just our mouth and nose, but our smiles.  Social distancing has caused the absents of hugs and kisses, (Thank you Emmy for not following that and giving me a big, meaningful hug today),

Some people are even spending the time alone at this holiday, maybe for the first time.  A holiday that circles around family.  From the story of a baby, born to a virgin mother and a earthly father who raise Him in love,  Everyone visits that baby,  shepherds, wisemen and if the song is right, a little drummer boy.  That family is why we celebrate with our families and love ones.  That is why we share gifts at the holiday as a symbol of love to each other, sometimes even as a symbol of hope as did the gifts of the Magi, of frankincense, myrrh and  gold, gifts for a future king.

When I have gone shopping this past week the spirit that is usually there every year that you could catch in a strangers smile as they held the door, or talking with people in a long line at the store while you wait to check out, is missing.  You can't talk unless you shout, people can't understand you because the mask muffles your voice.  Handshakes and hugs don't exist and there is a sadness about that.  But what even makes me worry is that this will be an ongoing way of existence.  

All stories from a Peanuts Christmas to Twas the Night before Christmas revolves around people and family.  Will the future Santa wear a Hazmat suit and use hand sanitizer, think of all the cross contamination that man causes.  

How will Hallmark Christmas movies ever find love is a social distance society.  How will Snoopy kiss Lucy through a mask, oh the inhumanity of it all.

Well, I have no answers, only questions and I can only hope and pray that the future will be better.  That the Christmas Spirit will return, that hugs will come back.   

Until then, I wish you peace, love and hope this Christmas, and that's another day in Catasauqua

Memorial Day 2020

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday which occurs every year on the final Monday of May. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.  Formerly known as Decoration Day,(my grandmother called it this) it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from "Decoration Day" to "Memorial Day", which was first used in 1882^.   It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.  (Thank you Congress I love a three day weekend)  The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress' change of date within a few years. (whew)

Memorial Day 2020 will soon not be forgotten, for in Catasauqua we are still in the RED Zone of the Covid 19 Quarantine.  So gatherings, parties and picnics are not a good idea unless it is with your family that you been stuck with for the last 146 days - yes it has been that long. 

Yesterday I ventured to Lowe's, which is  apparently the gathering place for the world - I haven't seen so many people since this all began.  I got some fertilizer and tomato plants, and apparently an impossible to open propane tank replacement, which is going to mean a return trip to people central to either find someone bigger and stronger than me or get a new tank. 

So today we will have grilled (hopefully) chicken and potato salad and pretend for the day that this is normal..  I don't like the phrase the new normal,  I don't want this to be our new normal   As I sit here and write I see things around me that represent my normal,  a bingo dapper, bills, and paper work.   My new normal has hand sanitizer, gloves and masks to my right.

Somethings from the Covid Crisis  I keep just because they make me smile.  Notes from my bff Cathy.

Yes, today is Memorial Day, a day to remember the fallen in Armed Forces, who secured our freedom and liberty.  Today that is what I will remember. 

and tomorrow, well, that's Another Day in Catasauqua